SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Lily Peterson, a 7th-grader at Mountain Heights Academy, met Dr. Jane Goodall — DBE founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace — after winning an essay contest.

Dr. Goodall is known for her legacy in science and conservation, and Peterson said she is a huge inspiration to her.

“She’s been a big inspiration for me, especially when I learned about how she always had wanted to go to Africa and learn all about the animals there,” Peterson said in a video produced by NHMU. “She worked very hard to get there and her just persevering, that’s taught a lot to me.”

The “Inspired by Jane” essay contest that Peterson won was inspired by Dr. Goodall’s 90th birthday, which was on April 3, as a way to celebrate Goodall’s inspiration for youth and vision for change.

More than 280 other Utah students in 6th, 7th and 8th grade participated in the contest.

Peterson won the contest — which was hosted by the Natural History Museum of Utah, the Jane Goodall Institute and my529 Utah’s Educational Savings Plan — and received an all-expenses-paid trip to a public lecture hosted by Dr. Goodall in Seattle.

After the lecture, Peterson was able to meet Dr. Goodall, wish her a happy birthday and give her a gift that she made.

The prompt for the essay was as follows: “Knowing all that Dr. Jane Goodall has accomplished in her life so far, tell us what positive impact you hope to make in the world by your 90th birthday.”

In her essay, Peterson advocated for the protection of wild horses in the Mountain West. After winning, Peterson said it was exciting to be able to meet Dr. Goodall, and said she was grateful that Goodall had proven animals have emotions, too.

“Being given the opportunity to meet Dr. Jane Goodall has been an incredible experience,” Peterson said. “It was so special to meet someone who worked so hard to make their own big childhood dreams come true. It is a moment I will never forget, and for which I am very thankful.”

The Natural History Museum of Utah is also hosting the exhibit Becoming Jane: The Evolution of Dr. Jane Goodall, which runs through May 27.

The exhibit is included with the cost of admission — but completely free to museum members; children younger than two years old; and University of Utah students, faculty and staff.